Avatar: The Island
by Scholarly-Cimmerian
Summary: While evading Prince Zuko's pursuit, Aang and his friends settle for the night on a strange, jungle-covered island. Unfortunately, the chase is far from over, and there are other dangers lurking in the island's forests as well...
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: All licensed characters belong to their rightful owners. I own nothing but my brain.**

 _Water. Earth. Fire. Air._

 _Long ago, the Four Nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked._

 _Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them._

 _But when the world needed him most, he vanished._

 _A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone._

 _But I believe that Aang can save the world!_

* * *

The sky-bison slowly descended from the clouds to come to a landing on the beach of a large, tropical island.

Appa let out a satisfied rumble as he finally came to a rest. It had been a hard day for the animal and his riders – after their hasty departure from Kyoshi Island, Aang and his friends had spent much time leading Prince Zuko and his men on a hard chase.

Aang slid out of the bison's saddle, and gave Appa's snout a fond pat.

"You did a good job, Appa. Go ahead and rest now."

The great white beast grunted in response, then settled down for a well-deserved nap.

Katara and Sokka climbed down to the beach with Aang.

"Do you think we lost him?" the Water Tribe girl asked the Avatar, concerned that Zuko might still be on their trail.

"I'm pretty sure," Aang shot a worried look out towards the ocean, as though afraid that a Fire Nation warship would come into view to prove him wrong, "I think that cloud bank managed to cover us long enough to throw Zuko off our trail."

"I hope so…"

These next few words were almost inaudible, and full of sorrow. Aang was still feeling the prickles of guilt about Zuko's attack on Kyoshi Island, feeling that it was his fault – if he hadn't stayed there for as long as he had, then the Fire Prince wouldn't have found out and launched his assault on the village.

"Come on, Aang," Sokka put a reassuring arm around the young airbender's shoulder, "I'm sure that Zuko's WAY behind us now."

"Let's just focus on setting up camp – it's been a long day." The Water-Tribe boy looked over to the thick woods that rimmed the beach, "I'll go get some wood for a fire. Once Appa's rested a bit, we can look for a better place to bunk for the night."

He drew his machete, and began to hack a path through the ferns ringing the beach. As he vanished out of sight, Aang gave one last worried look to the horizon.

"Don't worry, Aang," Katara said, trying to be cheerful, "It's going to be fine." Thinking it'd be good if they found something to do, she suggested, "Let's go check the supply bags, and see what we can come up with for dinner."

"All right," the young Avatar agreed, and they set off to make preparations for supper.

* * *

Sokka was just bending over to pick up another stick for his firewood, when he noticed some odd tracks in the mud.

"Huh?" the young warrior blinked in confusion, then knelt to better examine one of the tracks.

It was a large footprint, with three long, clawed toes that had gouged faintly into the dirt as whatever made them had left its mark.

Sokka would have chalked it up to some sort of bird – probably an ostrich-horse from the size – but the placement of the toes was all wrong: from what he remembered of the description, ostrich-horses had two toes in front, and one in back. This print had all three toes in the front, with no rear claws that he could see.

No ostrich-horse could have ever made this mark, Sokka was sure of that.

Therefore, what kind of animal made this footprint?

Having what he liked to call a natural curiosity, Sokka would have been tempted to investigate-

-But as he heard a loud, guttural roar echo through the woods, he decided to save his investigation for another time. Like maybe never.

Frantically grabbing up some other sticks, he beat a path back to the beach and his friends.

* * *

Aang and Katara started in alarm as a distant roar sounded in the woods.

" _Sokka!"_ Full of concern for her brother, Katara stood up.

To her relief, she then saw Sokka come rushing out of the woods. He skidded to a halt by their camp, dumped a load of sticks on the ground, and then dropped to his knees, gasping for breath.

"Sokka, are you alright?" Katara asked, looking at her brother to see if he had any sign of injury.

"I'm… fine…" he managed to get out, "I just think… maybe we should find another place to put down for the night."

Katara looked to Aang. "Do you think Appa's rested enough?" she asked.

The sky-bison answered her with an annoyed groan.

"Be nice, Appa," Aang scolded his animal companion, before looking back to them. "Well, maybe we can't go to another island, but I'm sure Appa can carry us to another part of this one. Right, boy?"

Appa rumbled deeply. The massive bison didn't seem thrilled by more flying, but he got up out of his resting position, and let the gang climb back into his saddle.

"Yip-yip!" Aang called as he took the sky-bison's reigns, and Appa duly leapt into the air, soaring slowly above the beach, and then over the forest in search of a new place to camp.

Below them in the jungle, eyes watched the flying behemoth overhead with interest.

* * *

Uncle Iroh awoke to the smell of smoke, and the sound of his nephew yelling.

A normal enough occurrence, then.

The elderly Fire Nation noble calmly got up from his bed, and ambled out onto the deck to see what all the fuss was about.

He found Zuko shouting at some of the ship's crewmen, whom he recognized as engineers for their vessel.

"What is going on here?" Iroh smoothly inserted himself into the scene, trying to deflect the prince's attention away from the engineers. "No trouble, I hope, nephew?"

Zuko scowled darkly at the crewmen. One of them ignored him to speak directly to Iroh.

"General Iroh, sir, the engines are in danger of overheating. We need to stop the ship if we want to avoid risking any problems."

Zuko's temper flared up at these words, and he snapped at the engineer. "No! We are not stopping! I won't let the Avatar escape me again!"

Iroh stepped in, putting a hand on his angry nephew's shoulder, "Prince Zuko, you should consider what he is saying. If the engines overheat, they could stop working – or even worse, explode. Then we wouldn't be able to pursue the Avatar at _all_."

The prince's face creased with a black, furious scowl. He was silent, his body tense and his fists clenched, before he finally spoke again.

" _Fine."_ He hissed in frustration, "Do it."

The order given, the engineers ran to cut power to the engines. The vessel also slowly changed course, moving to stop just off the shore of a large island that the helmsman had spotted, to rest for the night.

As the ship's speed fell, Zuko stared bitterly out into the horizon. He said nothing, stewing in his frustration that he had lost track of his quarry again.

* * *

Appa gently crested over a hill, before coming into to land on a clearing. The great white bison groaned as he settled down on the ferns that covered the ground, clearly broadcasting the message that he would _not_ be doing any more flying for the day.

His passengers climbed down from the saddle.

"Okay, buddy, you go ahead and rest," Aang stroked the bison's head, "You've done a great job."

Katara grabbed the firewood that had been gathered, and set about putting together a campfire.

Sokka was frowning as he glanced out at their surroundings. He wished that Appa had managed to touch down somewhere else – he felt too exposed out here; what if the whatever-it-was that made that roar came out here?

His gaze traveled further out into their surroundings –

And his eyes nearly popped out of his head in shock.

"Hey, Sokka, mind giving me a hand with the fire?" Katara asked, trying to strike the flint and light the kindling.

Jaw hanging open, Sokka gaped into the distance and didn't answer.

Katara sighed in annoyance at her brother. "Fine, then," she muttered as she worked to get the fire going, "You're on your own for dinner, then."

"Katara…" Sokka said faintly.

" _No_ , Sokka, I mean it."

Aang looked up, wondering if he'd have to intervene in an argument – and then he saw what had Sokka so shocked.

"Uh, Katara?" he asked. "You might want to look."

"At what?" Katara answered, feeling a prickle of exasperation.

Sokka put a hand on her shoulder, pointing urgently with his other hand. " _That_ ," he said.

Katara's eyes widened in amazement as she now saw what had them so stunned:

There, exiting from the line of trees at the forest's edge, was one of the biggest animals that she had ever seen in her life. Easily twice as large as Appa, it strode on four massive, pillar-like legs, and each step could probably shake the earth if you were close enough. Its smooth reptilian hide was a pale shade of brown, with blue-green stripes running down the length of its body.

The strange, giant beast had a long, thick neck with a small, boxy head; this massive neck was balanced out by an equally-long tail that tapered into a whipcrack of a tail, just visible as the creature fully stepped out of the forest and into the open.

All in all, it had to be about eighty feet long from head to tail.

The _Brontosaurus_ lifted its head up high, and let out a deep, bone-rattling call.

It was answered by a second call – and a third –

As more of the giant creatures began to appear, following the first one out of the woods. Soon, a whole herd of them were out and on the plains of the island.

"What kind of island did we land on?" Sokka asked, his voice weak as he stared at the herd of titanic creatures.

* * *

 **A/N: This all started as a silly idea a few years back, before I finally decided to write it down. I love Avatar and I love dinosaurs, so why not do a "lost episode" with the two? XD**

 **I picked Book One for this to take place in because it was in many ways the simplest time of the show, and also the time where I felt I could probably get the most suspense out of any dinosaur action. (Putting Toph in the story would just make it a curb-stomp for the poor dinos, in my opinion.)**

 **The release of _Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom_ a few months ago helped push me to get this story posted on FanFiction. **


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: As before, all licensed characters belong to their rightful owners. I own nothing but my imagination.**

The Fire Nation ship rested off the shore of the island. It had made it far enough to stop, just before the boilers gave up. Until they could be fixed, they were stuck.

Zuko had stomped off to his room in a foul temper at this newest delay in their progress. Uncle was out on-deck with a cup of ginseng tea, calmly watching the waves beat gently against the sandy beach.

"Mm…" he took a sip of the tea, savoring the taste of the drink. "Such delicious tea – if only my nephew were able to appreciate it better…" he sighed quietly at the memory of Zuko's fierce obstinacy.

 _Ah, well, Zuko is young,_ Iroh told himself. _There is still plenty of time for him to learn of the better things in life._

Iroh took another drink of tea, enjoying the faint, cool evening breeze.

He blinked mildly as something rustled the brush at the edge of the island's jungle.

He blinked again, eyes widening in amazement as a bizarre creature came shuffling ponderously out of the trees and along the beach.

The creature had a small, narrow head on a thin neck – that connected to a massive, bulky body, with two rows of kite-shaped plates running up its back and down the tail. At the end of the tail were four large bony spikes that were undoubtedly weapons.

It was nearly thirty feet long, and stood nearly twelve feet high at the hips; its forelegs were shorter than its hind-legs, and consequently the animal's head was only about a meter off the ground.

The _Stegosaurus_ was rather colorful, with its legs and belly a shade of yellowish-green; the scales higher up on its body were a darker shade of green, with the plates on its back being a dark red, tipped with a dash of black at the edges.

Iroh stared in disbelief at the ridiculous-looking animal, as it slowly plodded along the length of the beach. Eventually it disappeared out of his line of sight.

The old noble gazed at his teacup, a somber expression on his face.

"Such a pity," he stated wistfully, "This tea appears to have gone bad."

With great ceremony, he sadly emptied the tea over the side of the ship, and returned to his quarters.

* * *

Evening was falling on the island now.

Since the herd of giant long-necked creatures, Aang and his friends had seen a few other bizarre animals out and about:

Flocks of two-legged lizard-like animals; swift and bird-like despite their scales, they darted about across the plains or skirted the edge of the forests. There were different types of these creatures: one group of the creatures, uniformly green with darker spots, were nearly as tall as Sokka, while a different flock of similar-looking creatures (these ones were beige-colored with a thick blue stripe on each flank) were only half as high as Aang. Chirping faintly, the _Hypsilophodon_ and _Dryosaurus_ darted in and out of sight amongst the vegetation.

A herd of beasts, each one almost as big as Appa, had lumbered through the plains. They looked almost like the komodo-rhinos of the Fire Nation, except that instead of lizard's claws they had thick, elephant-like feet. They had a large, bony frill at the back of their skull, protecting their neck; and instead of a lizard's snout, they had a parrot's beak for a mouth. Their hides a pale brown, mottled with light yellow splotches, the _Triceratops_ had gone on their way, far enough from the camp for Aang and Katara to safely admire their size and majesty.

Sokka wasn't nearly as happy as they were.

He anxiously checked their firewood supplies, hoping they had enough to keep a fire going through the night.

As he prodded the coals with a stick, he wondered just what was wrong with his sister and the Avatar. Didn't they realize what kind of dangers might be out on this island?

This place was full of animals that none of them had ever seen before, let alone _heard_ of. And some of them were even huger and more of a gigantic monster than Appa.

Didn't they realize that there had to be something out in those woods that ate those giant creatures?

Just what kind of predators were out and on the prowl for an easy snack right now?

As the sun sank out of sight and dusk turned to dark, this worry lingered in his mind, and he worked to keep the fire going as long as possible.

"Don't worry, Sokka," Aang cheerfully tried to reassure him, "We've got Appa here to protect us, right boy?" The giant white bison rolled onto his side, and rumbled deeply in answer.

Sokka wanted to retaliate with his theory about predators hunting the giant creatures, but decided not to risk an argument, and so he grumpily crawled into his sleeping bag, and watched the campfire gradually die down and the coals turn to ash.

During the night, occasional noises would drift out of the jungle: insects buzzing, a distant rustle of brush, animals calling…

Sokka, despite his concerns, eventually closed his eyes and slept.

* * *

The sound of Momo chittering loudly woke up Katara.

Aang was already awake, trying to soothe the lemur, who was hissing in agitation, his fur puffed up and eyes wild.

"What's wrong with Momo?" the waterbender asked in concern as she climbed out of her sleeping bag.

"I don't know!" Aang looked at her with worry, "I think something's got him spooked, but I don't know what!"

"Whuhshappenin?" Sokka mumbled blearily as he sat up, boomerang in hand. "Issit Fire Nation again?"

They all froze as they suddenly heard a noise in the darkness of the landscape around them: a rustling of ferns, a soft-but-heavy tread of animal footsteps… cautiously prowling right towards their camp.

Suddenly wide-awake, Sokka frantically scrambled out of his sleeping bag and worked to get a torch lit. Aang brought out his airbending staff, his eyes wide and afraid; Katara checked her waterbending flask, and wished for the thousandth time that she knew some combat forms.

The tread drew closer, before it suddenly stopped. But now, they could better hear a new sound: a low, rumbling sound that rose and fell in pitch.

It was the breathing of whatever was out there, in the darkness just outside their camp.

"Come on, come on!" Sokka muttered frantically, working to strike the flint together on the torch that he had rapidly scrapped together.

"Yes!" he whooped as sparks flew from the rocks, and managed to ignite the pitch on the end of the torch. Flames blazed to life, and Sokka boldly held up the flaming brand to fend off the predator-

Only to scream as the flames illuminated the beast, standing not five feet from the ruins of their campfire.

The creature let out a hoarse shriek – almost like the howl of a giant wolf – as it was suddenly confronted with the torch's light.

It was taller than Sokka was, standing about two meters high on powerful legs ending with bird-like claws. It was reptilian like all the other creatures on this island; a thick, crocodilian tail lashed in agitation, and it spread little, clawed arms wide in a posture of fury.

The creature had a large head, with a horn on the end of its snout and a short, bony crest above each eye. It roared again, loud and shrill, as it opened its mouth – showing off long fangs like daggers – and prepared to lunge.

Sokka shrieked, eyes bulging at the sight of the creature's toothy maw, open wide enough to bite his head off.

"SOKKA!" Katara didn't think, she just reacted. The cap exploded from her water-skin, and a powerful spray erupted forth as she lashed out with her waterbending; the powerful jet of water arcing over her brother's head and striking the predatory beast right in the mouth.

The creature's roar turned into a pained screech as it was staggered by the torrent of water.

Aang launched a powerful gust of airbending at the creature, knocking it onto its side and sending it sliding further back from their camp.

Sokka snapped out of his frozen state of panic and ran to stand behind the Avatar and his sister for protection.

Bedraggled and confused, the _Ceratosaurus_ shook its head to clear away remaining water, clearly deciding that it would look for an easier meal elsewhere. It let out a final screech, clambered to its feet, and swiftly retreated away from the campsite and into the jungle.

Aang, Katara and Sokka all watched its departure, until the beast was well and truly out of their line of sight.

None of them spoke for a long moment. Finally, Sokka broke the silence.

"I love you, Katara," he threw his arms around his sister, and she returned the hug too, deeply relieved that her brother was alright.

For a moment, the two siblings enjoyed the hug. And then…

"And a big, fat help _you_ were, Mr. Sky-Bison!" Sokka suddenly, angrily snapped at Appa, who had slept through the whole tense encounter.

The great white bison merely rolled over, and continued to slumber through Sokka's outrage.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: All licensed characters belong to their respective owners. I own nothing.**

* * *

Morning came, and the rising sun cast its glorious rays on the island, creating a spectacular show of color as the dawn shone on the ocean.

Zuko was in no mood whatsoever to appreciate it. The young prince, already aggressive enough under normal circumstances on the ship, was positively going crazy with frustration at their lack of progress.

Every day, every _hour_ they were stuck here working to fix those damned engines meant more time wasted. His chances at finding the Avatar again were fading away by the second.

Zuko spent most of the morning pacing the deck like a caged tiger-elk, occasionally demanding updates on the ship's repairs – and then losing his temper at the news that no, they hadn't been finished yet.

Uncle Iroh decided that some sort of intervention was necessary.

"Perhaps we should take the smaller ship out and explore the island for a bit, Prince Zuko," he suggested to his nephew, "The fresh air and exercise will do you good."

Zuko grumbled something-or-other in a surly way, but he eventually acquiesced, and the prince and his uncle and a few other men were off to the shore in the smaller boat contained within the main ship. (The engineers breathed a sigh of relief at their departure.)

* * *

The smaller transport boat touched down on the sandy beach, and its passengers disembarked.

"Oh, what a beautiful day it is!" Iroh said jovially as he stepped out onto the pure white sand, and admired the gorgeous tropical coast around them. "Have you ever seen such an exquisite landscape, nephew?"

"I'm going for a walk." Zuko growled as he stomped off down the beach and away from his romantic of an uncle.

"Don't go too far, nephew!" Iroh called cheerfully after him, "You don't want to miss the lunch I packed!"

"Now, then," Iroh turned to the guards who'd accompanied them to the island, "Which of you gentlemen would like to set up the umbrella for some shade?" He gestured to a large beach umbrella that he'd brought with them from the ship.

* * *

Further up the beach, Zuko kept moving until he was well out of eyesight of his uncle and the other men. He wanted – _needed_ – to be alone right now.

The scarred prince finally came to a stop, and stood in place. It was quiet, with the only noise being the very faint noise of the morning tide washing in and out.

At first, Zuko remained in a tense pose, his fists clenched and his face drawn in a scowl. He shut his eyes, and focused his breathing in a firebending exercise of control.

Gradually, though, as he stood by himself alone on the beach, he managed to let himself relax just a bit. His hands slowly released from their tightened form, and his expression started to soften –

 _*SKRAWK!*_

 _*RAWK!*_

 _*SKREE!*_

A cacophonous assortment of bird-like squawks and screeches suddenly assaulted his ears.

Zuko's eyes popped open, blazing with fury; his teeth clenched as fire leapt to his hands to dispel this latest annoyance-

A flock of… birds? (Or were they lizards?) was wheeling and gliding about above the beach and ocean around him. They were colorful and varied, but Zuko didn't care at all about that.

"Quiet!" he barked angrily, punching a blast of heat at the annoying lizard-birds.

For a second, screeching in surprise, the creatures scattered away from the beach, and Zuko had his peace and quiet again.

And then, the flock descended on him.

Leathery wings beat around his face and shoulders as the creatures flew at him. Zuko yelled in anger, flailing his arms, trying to burn away the winged reptiles.

One of the vile things drew blood, the point of its beak opening a shallow but painful cut on his scalp. Another one staggered Zuko as its wings slapped him in the face. Their shrill birdlike cries were all around him as they swarmed him -

"Get OFF ME!" Zuko roared, fire erupting from his mouth like a dragon; in a powerful burst of fire, he drove the flock of lizard-birds back and away from him.

The pterodactyls retreated, screeching hellishly as they took to the air and far away from the firebender. A smell of smoke and burnt hair lingered on the wind as the prince rested for a moment, his hands on his knees, as he recovered from the exertion of fending off the attack.

When he got his breath back, he immediately let out a shout of anger, turning and stomping back in the direction of his uncle.

* * *

Aang had taken to the air on his glider to try and get a feel for the layout of the island. As he soared above the treetops on currents of wind, he looked down at the jungle for anything of interest: bodies of water, any sign of human habitation, landmarks…

"WHOA!" he had to swerve to avoid colliding with a flock of screeching flying reptiles. He could smell smoke and fire in the wake of the pterodactyls' departure.

Was there a fire somewhere? Was it at all close?

Concerned, Aang decided to check it out.

He altered his course to the left, and flew in the direction that the pterodactyls had just come from.

* * *

"Prince Zuko, what in the world happened-"

"We're leaving, Uncle!" the angry young royal snapped furiously at his uncle as he marched furiously into the beach campsite. Several angry-looking scratches marked his face; a sight that made Iroh wince internally.

 _Just once, spirits, couldn't you let my nephew have a good day?_ The old general thought despairingly, as he forced his unwilling body to get up from the comfort of the beach blanket. He saw his young charge barking orders at the crewmen present.

And then he noticed something else.

"Pack it up, I want off this cursed island as fast as possible!" Zuko shouted at his men, not seeing his uncle's stunned face.

"Zuko," Iroh began carefully.

" **No** , uncle! We're leaving, no arguments!"

"Nephew – look…"

With a groan of frustration, Zuko spun in the direction his uncle had indicated. "What?!" he started, well beyond exasperated with all that had happened. Then he cocked his head slightly, thrown by what he was seeing.

Paddling up the ocean towards the beach was a bizarre sort of mix of bird and reptile that none of the Fire Nation natives had ever seen before. It was about twenty feet long with a leathery brownish hide reminiscent of a lizard, but it had powerful hind legs with feet almost like a monstrous chicken. Its forearms were smaller, with hooked claws that paddled the water as the bizarre animal swam along.

Reaching the shallows, the lizard-bird creature shifted from swimming to walking, and trotted ashore, a long stiff tail swinging back and forth as it came out of the water. The animal shook itself dry, before noticing it had company.

It glanced at Zuko, Iroh, and their guards with a thick, pointed reptilian face, showing deep-set snakelike eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth.

The _Eustreptospondylus_ let out a warning growl, before turning and striding into the jungle.

Silence reigned in its departure.

Cautiously, Iroh spoke up.

"Prince Zuko?" he inquired in a delicate voice.

"Uncle?" the Fire Prince asked, feeling a touch of concern; Iroh sounded rather fragile.

"Did you see that creature too?"

"…Yes, uncle," Zuko responded.

A brief silence fell again…

Iroh suddenly began to weep. Tears ran down his face and into his beard as the venerable firebender and ex-general let out his grief.

Shocked, Zuko demanded, "Uncle? Uncle, what's wrong?"

"Oh, Zuko!" Iroh lamented in an anguished voice, "I just realized—I saw such a strange creature last night, and I thought it was because I had drunk bad tea… S-so I threw it out—"

"—But if you saw these creatures just now – then – they are real… And I wasted perfectly good tea for _NOTHING!_ " Iroh finished, sniffing heavily, and wiping at his teary eyes. "Oh, nephew, what a mistake I made!"

…

There are no words in the dictionary capable of sufficiently describing the facial expression that Prince Zuko made in the aftermath of this declaration.

* * *

Aang flew above the beach, eyes open for any signs of fire—

"Uh-oh." His eyes widened as he fully registered the small black steamship at the shore, the bigger one further out in the water…

And the group of Fire Nation on the beach that he was just about to fly over.

* * *

Zuko reflexively looked up as a large shadow passed above him. For a moment he thought it was another of those flying reptiles—

 _The Avatar!_

The exiled prince could hardly believe the sudden burst of good luck. Here he'd thought that the Avatar was out of his reach, and now the fool was practically right on top of him!

Full of angry determination, Zuko began to shout orders:

"After him, men! Don't let him get away!"

"Uncle! Send word back to the ship; I want soldiers on this island immediately! And get the rhinos ready, we'll be heading into jungle!"

"The Avatar isn't escaping me this time…" Zuko finished, half-snarling to himself as he clenched his fists tight.

"Yes, Prince Zuko," Iroh said patiently.

( _Why me?_ Both he and Aang thought in resignation as the chase began to get underway.)

* * *

Sokka and Katara were trying to find some nuts or berries in the woods near the campsite. It was a hard, seemingly impossible task: the vegetation consisted of ferns, horsetail plants, cycads… no nuts or berries whatsoever, and none of the trees seemed to bear good fruit. (Neither sibling wanted to try and taste the foul-smelling offerings of a gingko tree.)

Momo suddenly perked up, ears twitching. He chirped anxiously.

The two Water-Tribe children quickly got up, looking around in case of some dangerous creature, like the _Ceratosaurus_ from the previous night. But no carnivorous lizard-beast seemed to be around…

Sokka felt a pungent, bitter scent tickle his nose. A familiar, warm smell…

"Do you smell smoke?" he asked, brow furrowing.

Frowning, Katara looked around. When her eyes lifted up above the trees, she suddenly gasped to see a large billow of dark, thick smoke rising up above the jungle.

Right in the direction Aang had left to go scouting.

" _Aang!"_ Katara cried out as a fireball flew up from the trees.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: All licensed characters belong to their rightful owners. I own nothing.**

* * *

Aang tumbled to the ground, managing to turn his fall into a semi-graceful roll. Swiftly, the airbender darted back to his feet, glider open and ready-

 _Drat._

That last fireball had clipped the glider's left wing, burning a large hole through it. He could still use the staff, but without proper supplies to fix the damage he was effectively grounded from the skies.

"Oh no…" Aang groaned as he surveyed the flames spreading through the forest around him. The blasts of fire that Zuko and his men had thrown at him were going to burn down the entire jungle if he didn't do something to stop it.

The memory of Kyoshi Island and Suki's village in flames loomed vividly in Aang's mind. He wasn't going to let another place burn down because of this firebender prince's crazy hunt.

Snapping his glider back into staff form, Aang's expression became determined. Bringing his staff up, he swung it through the air in a wide arc, directing a powerful gust of controlled air current with it.

The growing forest fire was hammered by a mighty rush of cold winds, and promptly snuffed out like a candle. The Avatar smiled in relief-

"There he is!" shouted a voice. Through the burnt-out skeletons of the trees, Aang could see Fire Nation soldiers, some of them on the backs of komodo rhinos.

Aang could also see Zuko too, hurriedly climbing into the saddle of a rhino. The prince shouted "Don't let him get away!" and spurred his mount forward, the heavy beast plowing through the wreckage left by the fire.

Aang hurriedly whipped together an air-scooter, and took off further into the jungle as fast as he could. Plants and ferns whipped at his face as he shot through the undergrowth; swiftly, Aang changed tactics and shot up the side of a tree, dispersing the air-scooter into a gust of wind that pushed him off of the trunk and towards the next tree over.

Almost like a human pinball, Aang bounded through the woods, with Zuko in hot pursuit. Deeper and deeper they went into the jungle…

* * *

"Zuko! Please, slow down!"

Iroh's call went unheeded, as the old general saw his nephew continue to ride hard after his elusive quarry. Soon Zuko had vanished into the undergrowth after the last airbender.

 _That boy…_ With a sigh of mingled resignation and warmth, Iroh urged his own mount to pick up the pace a bit. (Just a bit – his old bones did not care at all for the saddle and the jostles of riding.)

"Lieutenant?" he called back to the officer riding up to him – Jee, yes, that was his name, he remembered – "Send the men back towards the shore to set up a signal fire; we don't want to get lost in this forest."

"Yes, General Iroh," the man saluted. "…Sir," he added a second later, almost hesitant, "What about Prince Zuko?"

"I will take care of my nephew, lieutenant. Do not worry," Iroh put a jolly laugh into his tone, "I assure you, that I have NO wish to get lost in this forest!" And with that, the old general carefully rode after his wayward charge.

Lieutenant Jee watched him depart, wanting to protest in some way, before he reluctantly turned to pass along the general's command.

* * *

The trees suddenly ran out and opened up into a wider clearing of forest. Aang nimbly leapt off the trunk of the last tree and landed on the ground in an acrobatic tumble. Wasting no time, Aang popped back to his feet-

Only to gag as a revolting smell suddenly hit his nose like a punch to the face.

" _UGGH!"_ The Avatar clamped his hands over his mouth, chase momentarily forgotten at the horrendous stench.

Looking around, he was able to detect what the source of it was, pretty easily…

Meat. Lots of rotten meat.

The half-eaten carcass of a _Triceratops_ lay on its side near the edge of the clearing behind him. In life it had probably weighed nearly as much as four tons and been a magnificent sight to behold; now, not so much, as the body looked several weeks old, with its ribs exposed to the open air and fat carrion flies buzzing about the corpse.

Aang remembered the big herd from the previous evening, and couldn't help but wonder what in the world had been able to kill such a powerful animal…

" _I've got you now, Avatar!"_

…Oops. Right. Zuko was still chasing him.

The undergrowth in front of the Avatar was trampled underneath as Prince Zuko's mount charged into the clearing; its rider furiously punched a mighty blast of fire through the air towards his quarry. Aang flattened himself to the ground to dodge the attack-

But, having been thrown in angry haste, the poorly-aimed fireball soared well over where the Avatar had been standing to crash amongst the trees behind the dinosaur carcass.

Aang jumped back to his feet, and swiftly pulled out his air-staff, holding it ready for a fight. He didn't want to use violence, he hated fighting, but clearly Zuko was not going to stop chasing him… so he would have to defend himself.

The Avatar and the Fire Prince stood in a faceoff for a moment, tensely eyeing the other to try and make the first move-

And then the trees behind them shook wildly, as something behind them let out a thunderous, earsplitting roar.

Aang froze, eyes wide. Zuko was nearly unseated by his komodo-rhino, before managing to get it under control.

Both would-be combatants turned to look at the trees, for some sign of what had made the terrifying sound.

The roar had come from the woods behind the carcass…

Specifically, Zuko realized too late, where his missed fireball had landed. The firebender could only curse at the rotten luck.

 _Boom… boom… boom…_

Heavy footsteps began to shake the ground, almost like foreshocks of an earthquake. The branches of the trees rattled and shook, as something huge pushed through the jungle towards the clearing…

Zuko's rhino bellowed in agitation, swinging its tail in panic. Zuko forced it to remain in place as he glowered at the Avatar… monster in the woods or not, the airbender was not going to evade him.

(For his part, Aang was frantically wondering whether he should try to run and risk more of Zuko's fire, or stay still and risk getting eaten.)

The footsteps stopped, the branches of the jungle still rustling. Both benders strained to see where the creature was… but the foliage revealed nothing.

And then, with a thrill of horror, Aang realized that he'd been looking too low. The Avatar had been looking at the trees about ten feet above the ground, for something like a bigger version of the _Ceratosaurus_ …

No. Too low.

The head of the creature he was looking for was higher than that…

Nearly twenty feet off the ground.

Zuko's eyes widened, in spite of himself, as he saw the source of the roar appear in full...

The trees were parted as the gigantic creature stepped out and into the open. A deep, rattling growl rumbled from broad, heavy jaws, as beady reptilian eyes stared down at the two intruders.

It was huge and powerful and terrifying: standing on two muscular hind legs ending in massive three-clawed feet, everything about the beast spoke of strength and ferocity. Even its tiny arms were thick with muscle; small only in comparison to its stout body and massive head; jaws lined with teeth like heavy knives.

The _Tyrannosaurus rex_ stood seventeen feet tall, and had to be almost fifty feet long. Its muzzle was still red with dried blood from its previous meal, giving its slate-colored face an almost ghoulish appearance. The rest of its body was a shade of mottled green, with brighter stripes on its neck, flanks and tail. Short, dark feathers ran down its neck and along its back.

A fresh, raw, painful burn mark stood out on the tyrannosaur's left flank. The beast had probably been napping when Zuko's attack had given it a most unpleasant wake-up call.

The _Tyrannosaurus'_ piercing yellow eyes moved over the scene. It glanced over Aang for just a moment, dismissing the small saffron-colored thing as a threat…

And then focused on Zuko and his rhino.

The prince clenched his teeth angrily, and lit up a fistful of flames as a warning.

The tyrannosaur roared, deafeningly loud and full of wrath at the sight of the flames.

And then, it charged.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: All licensed characters belong to their rightful owners. I own nothing!**

* * *

 _Water. Earth. Fire. Air._

 _Long ago, the Four Nations lived together in harmony. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked._

 _Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them._

 _But when the world needed him most, he vanished._

 _A hundred years passed and my brother and I discovered the new Avatar, an airbender named Aang. And although his airbending skills are great, he has a lot to learn before he's ready to save anyone._

 _But I believe that Aang can save the world!_

* * *

 **PREVIOUSLY…**

"What kind of island did we land on?" Sokka asked, his voice weak as he stared out at the herd of Brontosaurus….

"After him, men! Don't let him get away!" Prince Zuko yelled, as Aang fled into the woods to try and escape the firebender and his men….

"Zuko! Please, slow down!" Uncle Iroh's call was ignored, as the stubborn prince continued to chase his quarry deeper into the island's jungle...

"I've got you now, Avatar!" Zuko violently launched a fireball at the Avatar, which missed its target and instead crashed into the trees behind them…

Huge and powerful and terrifying, the Tyrannosaurus rex loomed over Aang and Zuko. The burn Zuko's careless fireball had left on its side gleamed angrily.

And, with a bellowing roar of fury, the tyrannosaur charged.

* * *

 **NOW…**

With swift, powerful strides, the Tyrannosaurus crossed the clearing. Its jaws opened wider as it prepared to lunge, showing off its mouthful of large, deadly fangs.

Prince Zuko's Komodo-rhino thrashed its tail, bellowing in agitation. The firebender grit his teeth and wrestled with the beast's reins to keep it from spooking. His amber eyes darted briefly, piercingly, from the tyrannosaur to the target of his hunt.

Aang froze, disturbed. Just how obsessed _was_ this guy? He thought in alarm.

Zuko's eyes snapped back to his gigantic opponent. The _T. rex_ let out a bloodcurdling snarl as its head darted forward, fanged mouth opening wide…

The rhino threw itself to the left, its clawed lizard feet gouging into the dirt floor of the clearing as it lunged out of the way. Its rider shouted angrily and punched a blast of fire at the _rex_ 's exposed right side.

With a shriek of both pain and rage, the rex drew itself back up and pivoted to face its tormentor. Towering over the prince and his beast, the Tyrannosaur snapped down at Zuko, who nearly fell out of the saddle as he instinctively lunged back to avoid those mighty fangs.

The komodo-rhino thrust its horned head upward, stabbing at the rex's mouth. The tyrannosaur took a step back from the long sharp horns, allowing Zuko enough time to re-position himself in the saddle and continue fighting.

Eyes gleaming with fury, the tyrannosaurus let out a deafening roar. Zuko yelled back in challenge, and forced his mount into a charge. The rhino lunged forward to gore the gigantic predatory dinosaur—

But the rex lunged forward too, its jaws clamping around one of the rhino's horns. The two beasts began to wrestle, the Fire Nation creature trying to break free and the prehistoric beast trying to overpower it.

Aang watched all of this, gripped by horror and by indecision.

Common sense and basic survival instinct told him to RUN. Leap into the trees and get as far away from the battle as his airbending could take him.

But at the same time, he couldn't bring himself to abandon anyone – even the violent, scary Fire Prince – to possibly be **eaten**.

Aang worked his brain to come up with a plan, something to stop the fight, and keep Zuko (or himself) from getting eaten, without hurting the tyrannosaur too much.

As Zuko struck at the rex's hide again and the air rang with furious animal bellows, the Avatar flinched. _Come on, come on…_ he begged his brain, _Think of something!..._

* * *

Uncle Iroh was nearly thrown from the saddle, as the trees ahead of him suddenly shook and the titanic roar of something very big and _very_ angry echoed through the woods. Bringing his komodo-rhino back under control, the old general gazed forward, at where the awful sound had come from.

"Zuko…" Iroh said quietly.

Then, as the roar sounded again, he heard his nephew shout defiance—

" _Hyah!"_ Iroh spurred his komodo-rhino forward. The bulky animal groaned, but training won out and the beast set forth at a brisk trot, crushing plants and cycads underfoot as it steadily plowed through the undergrowth.

 _Hold on, nephew, I am coming!_ Iroh swore.

The increased speed of the ride through the jungle bumped and jostled the elderly firebender painfully; old aches and pains flared up, and he was sure that he'd be sore tomorrow morning.

But none of that mattered, though. Zuko needed him. And Iroh would let nothing happen to the boy.

If any creature on this strange and mysterious isle did harm to his nephew, Iroh would show them just why he had once been known as the "Dragon of the West"…

* * *

In the clearing, the two mighty creatures continued to wrestle. The tyrannosaurus growled thunderously, refusing to relinquish its grip on the komodo-rhino's horn; the Fire Nation beast dug its claws into the ground and thrashed its tail as it struggled to break free.

Zuko yelled in fury as he struggled in the saddle, trying to direct his mount in some way to break the stalemate. He sent bursts of fire at the tyrannosaur, which was so close to him that if it changed targets, it could snap him up in seconds.

The prince's attack made the tyrannosaur let out a thunderous groan with pain, but still it refused to let go. Taloned feet gouging into the dirt floor of the jungle, the rex stubbornly wrestled with the komodo-rhino, frenzied by the flames and determined to see its enemy dead-

" _STOP!"_

Initially frozen by fear and uncertainty, Aang's emotions had hit a breaking point.

For a second, the Avatar's eyes flashed, glowing with blinding light…

And then, he let loose with his power.

A hurricane-level gust of wind _blasted_ across the clearing, knocking both combatants off their feet. The tyrannosaur's clawed feet kicked in the air as the beast tried to right itself; Zuko had been blown from the saddle of his rhino, and was sprawled against the unforgiving trunk of a tall conifer tree.

Aang swayed on his feet as the Avatar State left him, shaken by the sudden influx of power and its equally sudden departure. " _Ugh_ …" he sighed, feeling somewhat drained by everything that had happened.

Noise pierced his ears, and Aang snapped back to alertness as he beheld the aftermath of his supercharged outburst:

The tyrannosaur, pushing itself back up on its feet with a snarl…

Zuko, nearly-unconscious on the ground…

And the prince's komodo-rhino, stumbling back upright. One of its horns was missing, broken off by the strength of the tyrannosaur's jaws and the blast of gale-force wind. The Fire Nation animal bellowed in pain and alarm, training forgotten as the T. rex drew itself up again. Turning, the komodo-rhino lurched into a run, away from the fight…

With a booming grunt, the tyrannosaurus gave chase.

* * *

Zuko lay on the ground. His vision swam and his ears were ringing.

What was going on, again? Why was the earth shaking?

Memory suddenly snapped back into sharp focus. With a sharp gasp, the prince pulled himself up, just in time to see the tyrannosaurus swiftly bearing towards him.

Each approaching footstep sent little shocks through the firebender's body.

Zuko lurched to his feet to try and get away, but he stumbled, still off balance by his fall from the saddle.

The tyrannosaur's eyes gleamed. The creature was so close that Zuko gagged on the smell of its hot, foul breath.

The shadow of a massive, clawed foot fell over him.

" _No!"_

It wasn't his voice that cried out.

It wasn't even Uncle's voice.

 _The Avatar?_

There was a great rush of wind, and Zuko's vision was filled with a blur of saffron.

"Oof!" The exiled prince and the Avatar both crashed into a massive cycad, seeds flying every which way. Slowly, the two boys sank to the ground, sprawling in a patch of ferns at the base of the cycad's trunk.

Zuko groaned, despite himself.

"Ow…" a voice beside of him whimpered.

Realization suddenly struck Zuko, like a bolt of lightning.

 _The Avatar!_

He lunged to try and grab the airbender, but it was too late. The airbender was too fast, and darted back from his clumsy tackle, springing up into a nearby tree.

Within seconds, Zuko's target was gone, leaping away through the canopy of the forest.

"NO!"

Zuko let out a wordless curse of fury, and staggered to his feet, his eyes locked on the direction that the Avatar had fled. Yet *again* he had come so close, but still had nothing to show for his efforts. The exiled prince stared into the woods before him, calculating his next move, but before he could move to plunge after his target-

"Zuko!"

He whipped around in surprise. "Uncle?"

"Climb on, nephew!" His uncle, with a rare sternness on his round face, clapped a hand against the saddle for emphasis, "We are going back to the ship now!"

"But Uncle, the Avatar's getting away, I need to-"

" _Now_ , Zuko!"

The steel in Uncle Iroh's voice shocked the prince more than he would have ever liked to admit. Uncle rarely, if *ever*, spoke to him like that. It was a startling reminder that the old man had once been a general, and a formidable one at that too. Uncertainly, Zuko looked up at Iroh, but he didn't take the offered hand just yet.

Uncle's frown softened a little. "Oh, Zuko," he said in a gentler, but still firm, tone, "You gave me a fright, riding off like that. We don't know anything about this island and what creatures live in these woods." He put out his hand again, insistently, "Nephew, please. We must go back to the ship and plan first. Your quest will mean nothing if you get yourself eaten."

Zuko frowned, agitated, but he did not argue the point further. He took his uncle's hand, and clambered up behind Iroh, sitting somewhat uncomfortably on the rear of the Komodo-rhino's saddle.

"Thank you, Prince Zuko," Uncle Iroh said to him gratefully, before gently flicking the reins and directing their mount back towards the way they had come.

Zuko said nothing though. His face was downcast, and he was lost in his own thoughts.

Another roar echoed through the woods. It was farther away, but it was unmistakably the tyrannosaur.

A moment later, another sound carried across the jungle… one that made both Iroh and Zuko tense up.

It was the panicked, and pained, bellowing of a Komodo-rhino.

Zuko's eyes widened in sudden, horrified realization.

"Uncle!" he started, but the old man shook his head sorrowfully.

"I'm sorry, Prince Zuko," he said with regret. "But there is nothing you or I can do."

Iroh's beast grunted nervously, and the old man gently patted its head as the animal trotted faster down towards the beach. Another bellow, high-pitched and wailing, full of desperate terror and indescribable pain, reverberated through the woods behind them…

And then, there was a muffled, but no less horrible, **crunch** of jaws on flesh, and the screaming stopped very suddenly.

The ride back to the beach was utterly quiet. Neither Zuko or Uncle said a word, as they reunited with the other troops from the ship; Iroh merely nodded to them, indicating that everything was alright, and the Fire Nation troops swiftly regathered to depart for the ship.

As the transport boat chugged through the water back to the main vessel, Iroh looked over to his nephew. The exiled prince was standing near the railing of the boat, hands tightly gripping the railing, looking at the island and its jungled forest with a cold, distant expression on his face.

"Hmm…" Iroh cautiously drew up beside Zuko. He didn't say anything to his nephew, nor did the prince so much as look at him. Zuko's eyes were still fixed on the distant woods of the island, his face a grim mask.

After a minute's silence, Uncle Iroh gently put out a hand and placed it on Zuko's shoulder. The young man stiffened at first, but he did not brush it off. He simply stood still, wrestling with the emotions swirling about inside of him, and then Zuko finally bowed his head, looking away from the island.

* * *

 **A/N: Well then. That got dark, didn't it?**

 **Bet you guys never expected this story to update again, did you? Sorry about all of that. I have very little good reason as to why that happened. But I finally hit on what felt like a good way to continue the plot, and here we are. I hope I was able to be dark without going too over the top - I wanted this story to feel kind of like it *could* be a missing episode of the original show. Don't know how well it comes off, but let me know in a review, perhaps?**


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